The Supermodel's Best Friend (A Romantic Comedy) (27 page)

“Is that a tornado under your belly button?
I’ve never seen that one before,” Lucy said, studying her tattoos
before they disappeared under the surface.

Betty wiggled her eyebrows. “The vortex of
love,” she said. As they laughed, she went on, “Speaking of which,
where were you last night? Not to mention—ouch!”

Fawn bobbed over and put an arm around
Betty’s bare shoulders. “Sorry. Guess I slipped.”

“You stuck your foot in my vagina!”

Biting her lip while the others laughed, Fawn
said, “Sorry,” and bent down to say something in Betty’s ear.

“Fawn, what’s going on?” Lucy asked. “You’ve
been acting funny all afternoon. If it’s about me, forget it. They
obviously know already.”

“Know what?” Krista asked, looking
alarmed.

Fawn ducked her head.

Did she really think, after last night, there
could ever be anything between her and Alex? Lucy hadn’t made her
decision with the clearest of heads, but it was done now.

“I slept with Miles last night,” Lucy
declared, understating the events for the sake of simplicity and
what shred of privacy she had left.

Krista gaped at her. “What?”

“Miles,” Lucy said. “We spent the night
together. Just wanted to get it out there.”

Krista continued to stare. After a long
moment, she asked in a little voice, “Alex was there?”

With an awkward laugh, Lucy said, “Only at
the beginning.”

Krista closed her eyes. “I see.” She sank
down into the water and disappeared. Only her curly, dark hair was
visible, floating on the surface.

“Your hearing aid!” Betty cried, splashing
over. She jerked Krista to the surface. “Your hearing aid!”

Eyes downcast, Krista shook her head. Water
trickled down her face. And a few tears.

Betty hopped out of the pool, displaying a
labia piercing that made Lucy flinch. Then she grabbed a pile of
white spa towels from a nearby basket. Squatting down, ignoring
Krista’s tears, she popped a hearing aid out of one ear, then the
other, and wrapped each carefully in a towel. “You dork,” she said
affectionately. “Not that you can hear me.”

Wishing she knew what the hell was going on,
Lucy tried to read the glistening faces of her friends. “Did she…
like Miles?”

Ignoring her, Betty jumped back in the water,
her naked breasts bouncing, and took Krista’s face in her hands.
Face to face, so she would read her lips, Betty said, “He wanted
you. You. Are. Hot.”

Krista shook her head. “He was drunk!”

“It gave him the excuse he needed,” Betty
said.

“I was just a rebound girl!”

“You’re the one he really wanted.”

Lucy met Fawn’s eyes across the pool, finally
understanding. “Alex and Krista?” she asked, and Fawn nodded.

That was fast.
Lucy sank deeper into
the water and pondered the steam rising up between them. She felt a
funny surge of relief. If Alex slept with Krista, she was off the
hook. They were even. Neither of them wanted the other.

“He was after Lucy, not me.” Krista looked at
Betty and wiped her eyes.

“He wised up,” Betty said.

Lucy frowned. That didn’t sound very
nice.

“And I was going to have Miles!” Krista
continued.

Uh-oh
, Lucy thought.

Betty started to put a hearing aid back in
her ear before Krista took over and put them in herself.

“I had it all figured out, ” Krista said.
“Now it’s a mess.”

“Was it that bad?” Betty asked. “Last night?
Because sometimes those preppy ones are rockin’ in bed. All that
pent-up energy. Give them a chance and they explode. Oh, was that
it? I’m not an expert on penises but I can imagine the letdown if
he starts squirting too soon all over the place and you haven’t
even—”

“It was fine!” Krista said, while Lucy and
Fawn tried not to laugh. “Really good, actually.”

Betty threw up her hands. “So what’s the
problem? Did he text you pictures of himself naked? Put a secret
video online? What?”

“I had it all figured out but at the first
opportunity I jumped in bed with another guy just because he showed
a little interest in me.” Krista dropped her face in her hands.
“What’s my problem? What if I can’t be faithful because—”

“It’s kind of early to worry about faithful,”
Betty interjected, then added under her breath, “Of course, in my
opinion it’s always too early.”

“—because I’m so friggin’ pathetic I need to
please every man who might want me?”

Betty put an arm around her. “Of course
you’re pathetic. Everyone’s pathetic about love.”

“But I don’t love him,” Krista said. “Maybe I
could, but—”

“Not that kind of love. The need to be loved.
You’ve always been a little extra deprived in that department. Your
parents are okay, but they’re kind of cold. Measuring everything
out like you owe them something.”

“They’re a million times better than your
parents and you don’t have a problem,” Krista told Betty.

Betty removed her arm. Sank back into the
water. “I’ve slept with two different women since Monday.”

Lucy exchanged glances with Fawn. The chance
to slip away had long passed.

“Two? How? You were with Jaynette both
nights,” Krista said.

“Jaynette’s a teacher. She’s used to working
in a group.”

That broke through Krista’s funk. She put her
hand over her mouth to smother a laugh.

“Krista… ” Lucy didn’t know what to say. “I’m
really sorry, I had no idea.”

“No, it’s fine,” Krista said, not sounding
like it was. “I just don’t get it, though. He’s so big. Wouldn’t
you be more comfortable with somebody your own size? It’s kind of a
waste.”

Krista had always had body image problems.
Lucy didn’t believe a woman should have to choose her partners
based on height. “I didn’t waste an inch of him.”

Krista closed her eyes. “Thank you so much
for sharing.”

“You hooked up with Alex! Besides, I had no
idea you were interested in Miles. And neither did he, I’m
sure.”

Krista pulled her hair back and squeezed out
the water. “I gave him a pretty good idea.” She climbed out of the
hot tub. “Forget it. What’s done is done. I think I’ll go get a
salt scrub. No, Betty, stay where you are. Please.” She smiled
crookedly. “You’ll never get back in that wetsuit.”

The three of them watched Krista stride away
and climb through the pool bubble.

“Damn,” Lucy said. “I should have seen that
coming.”

“I tried to tell you,” Fawn said.

“You should have talked faster.”

Betty floated over to Lucy. “Didn’t waste an
inch, huh?” She grinned. “About time you found someone who could
satisfy you. Guess you just needed to think big."

* * *

Miles slept through the afternoon to recover
from the night before. When he woke to a banging on his door it was
almost six in the evening.

Assuming it was Huntley, he shouted, “Go
away!” and pulled a pillow over his head. The only person he wanted
to see was Lucy and she wouldn’t knock that hard. Smiling, he tried
to reclaim the erotic dream about her he’d been enjoying before the
interruption. Whatever Huntley wanted, it couldn’t be remotely as
important as Lucy licking maple syrup off his testicles.

The banging continued. Then, “Miles! I know
you’re in there!”

His father. Miles cursed as Lucy slipped away
and he was stuck with reality. The sheets were tangled around his
legs, half off the bed, and he had a raging hard-on.

“Not a good time!” he shouted. He untangled
his legs and sat up.

“I know she’s in there!”

That woke him fully. Why would his father
care who he was sleeping with—

Oh, lord. Did the man never learn? Miles
pulled his jeans on and trod to the door. He took a deep breath
before he opened it to his father’s red face.

“Where is she?”

Miles sighed. “I should pretend I don’t know
who you’re talking about, but you’re too predicable.”

Alan pushed him aside and stormed past the
mess of the bed to the bathroom. He even looked in the closet
before striding out to the rear patio.

Miles grabbed a bottle of water and sat on
the edge of the mattress. When his father came back, Miles just
stared at him.

Still red in the face, Alan paced in front of
him. “She probably jumped over that fence. God knows she’s capable
of it. Working out all day.” Jaw tight, he glanced at Miles. “You
think I’m stupid enough to think that body is for my benefit?”

Miles saw the pain in his father’s eyes. He
didn’t want to feel sorry for him but he wasn’t used to seeing the
charming, mighty Alan Girard look like a wounded old man.

“She wasn’t here. Never was.”

His father slumped down on the bed next to
him. “Right.”

“Never. And I mean never.”

“You don’t look like a man who spent the
night alone.”

“I didn’t.”

He glanced sideways at him. “Who, then?”

Miles hesitated, then shrugged. “Lucy. The
maid of honor.”

His father mulled that over. His face was
reverting to its normal color. “You were together earlier. When we
met.”

“Yes.”

“I thought you were using her as an excuse to
get away from me.”

“No, I used
you
as excuse to get away
with
her
.” Miles gulped down a mouthful of water.
“And Lucy or no Lucy, I wouldn’t touch Heather with a ten-foot
pole.”
Unless it was electrified.

Alan massaged his face and sighed. “All
right.” He got to his feet. “I’ll go.”

He made it to the door before Miles said,
“Wait.”

Alan turned. Once again, Miles was struck by
the difference in the man he’d feared and revered all his
adolescence. “I’ve been stupid,” he said finally.

Mouth flattening, his father closed his eyes.
“So she was here. I knew it.”

“Oh, for God’s sake. Give it a rest.” Miles
was going to tell him he regretted running away. That he should
have made him believe the truth, that life was too short. But his
father, even now, was too blinded by jealousy. “Check the staff
housing. She always did like them young.”

His father slammed the door on his way
out.

This wasn’t where Miles wanted to be.

The sun had disappeared behind the redwoods,
casting the path to the lodge into premature night at just past
seven o’clock.

He was going to find Heather and deal with
this once and for all. Then he’d be able to spend another night
with Lucy. Right now he was too angry to be fit company for
anyone.

The lodge was very warm. Though high summer,
a fire burned in a cast iron woodstove near the seating area. A
handful of people sat there, most with a glass of wine in their
hand. He didn’t recognize any of them. They looked rich. Part of
his father’s generation.

One of the staff, a fifty-something woman in
a baggy beige dress and chunky jewelry, hailed him with an
outstretched glass. “Good evening. I’ve got a wonderful Shiraz here
tonight.”

He scanned the rest of the room. No sign of
his lovely stepmother. “No, thank you.” He strode past the group to
check in the little store before he tried the pool.

Bingo.

Heather stood in the aisle talking to Fawn’s
mother, Geri. He resented how the sight of her always made his
palms sweat.

“Heather,” he said. His determination to get
this off his chest made his voice harsher than he’d intended.

She jumped and spun around. “Miles, you
scared me.” Smiling, she looked at Geri. “Have you two met?”

That’s when he noticed Heather was holding a
box of condoms and a small black bottle of lube.

A surprisingly forceful wave of pity for his
father washed over him. “I want to talk to you,” he said.

Geri raised her eyebrows. Heather put the
contraceptives back on the shelf. “Of course, Miles. I was just
telling Geri how we’ve got a lot of catching up to do.”

Geri looked at her watch. “Lord, look at the
time. I’ve got to be going. Nice meeting you, Heather.” She gave
Miles a funny look on her way out.

Great. The condoms, the flirtatious greeting…
now Fawn’s family thought he was having sex with his
stepmother.

“Fantastic to see you, Miles. You look
gorgeous. I didn’t get a chance to tell you the other day.” She
walked up to him and patted his chest.

He grabbed her wrist and squeezed. “We’re
going to go for a little walk.”

Her eyes narrowed. “You’re hurting me.”

“The path to the parking lot is lighted.
We’ll walk there,” he said, releasing her.

“How romantic.” She strode ahead of him.

They both waved the wine lady away and
stepped out into the night. The temperature had already dropped in
the few minutes he’d been inside. Wind blew Heather’s hair into her
face.

“Lovely night for a stroll. How nice of you
to think of me,” she said.

“My father was looking for you.”

“If you’re so eager for me to see him,
perhaps I should leave you and go to him right now.”

“He thought you were with me.”

“And so I am,” she said.

“He nearly knocked my door down.”

“He does like to throw his weight
around.”

“Damn it, Heather—” He gritted his teeth,
waited until he was in control of himself. In a calmer tone, he
continued, “I know he must have made you sign some killer prenup,
but maybe you could do the right thing… just because it’s the right
thing to do.”

They’d been walking side-by-side down the
narrow path, but now she stopped and turned to face him. “You’re
lecturing me? You haven’t spoken to your own father in sixteen
years.”

“And you haven’t been loyal to him for one
day.”

All hint of warmth drained out of her face.
Her eyes narrowed. “You don’t know shit.”

“I know plenty.”